Fears over Sydney Airport drug import ring

Vincent Morello, Richard Lawson and Sam McKeith

The discovery of a sophisticated drug smuggling racket allegedly involving Sydney Airport Customs officers has prompted the establishment of a reform board to ensure the service is clean.

Two Customs officers, one officer from the quarantine service and five members of the public have been charged following a joint investigation involving the AFP, Australian Customs and Border Protection Service and the Australian Commission for Law Enforcement Integrity (ACLEI).

The operation, codenamed Marca, started nearly two years ago but one of the accused Customs officers began work as early as 2006.

Authorities will also review the travel patterns of two alleged drug mules prior to the start of operation Marca.

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One of the young women, a professional dancer, is associated with businessman Jim Byrnes who on Thursday offered $20,000 surety when she applied for bail in a Sydney court.

Home Affairs Minister Jason Clare said more arrests were possible and he had a message for the estimated 5000 Customs officers working on Thursday.

"You can expect more stings, you can expect more arrests and you can expect more reform," he told reporters in Sydney.

"If you're corrupt we'll hunt you down and lock you up."

Around January, Customs identified what it believed was potential evidence of corruption at Sydney Airport and referred its suspicions to the ACLEI.

Customs acting chief Michael Pezzullo said he was disappointed but not surprised by the corruption revelations.

"I'm not so naive as to think that criminal elements will not attempt to penetrate this service, its systems and its staff," he told reporters.

Mr Clare announced the federal government would be establishing a Customs Reform Board which would provide him with advice and recommendations on how to bolster integrity in the agency.

The board members will be "Australia's best corruption hunter", former royal commission head Justice James Wood, former NSW police commissioner Ken Moroney and former TNT CEO David Mortimer.

Australian Federal Police (AFP) Commissioner Tony Negus said the investigation may result in more arrests and there were fears more imports may have entered the country before it began.

"What these people have done is let everyone down in that process by allegedly bringing people past those barriers and past that process without any individual scrutiny," Mr Negus said.

"They're trusted to make judgments about passengers and they really act in those areas as the gatekeeper."

The Customs officers allegedly arranged for the two women to travel overseas and bring 10kg quantities of the precursor drug pseudoephedrine - used to manufacture methamphetamine - back from Thailand and another undisclosed location.

They would meet their accomplices at the plane, escort them through the Customs area of the airport and then into the arrivals hall where they were free to continue on their way with the drugs.

Mr Negus said he wasn't surprised by media reports linking the operation to bikies and other organised crime groups.

This week, charges were laid against four of the co-accused relating to two alleged shipments which entered Australia via Sydney Airport in 2009 and 2010.

Four others were charged in August and October and all eight remain before the courts.

Independent Senator Nick Xenophon has requested Mr Clare release previous reports from former Customs officer Allan Kessing who was convicted in 2007 of leaking the documents to the media.

Acting Greens leader Adam Bandt said the new board was "a nice idea" but it was time for a national anti-corruption body.

The Community and Public Sector Union, which includes Customs workers, said it was disgusted and shocked at the allegations and would co-operate fully with the new board.